The U.S. Securities Industry Association and the Bond Market Association are contemplating a merger to form a single trade association.

The boards of directors of both the BMA and the SIA have endorsed the concept of merging the two associations into a new entity. Once the organizational details have been decided, the boards will vote on the merger by June 30, followed by a vote of the full membership.

The two groups said that, “leaders from both associations have been working for the last several months to design a combined organization that could, as a single entity, more effectively represent the interests of the securities industry and the broad array of equity and fixed income markets and do so with intense local focus as well as representing these industries globally.”

“The combined organization is intended to meet the needs of the member financial services firms in their roles as broker dealers, investment advisers and asset managers, as well as representing the interests of private client and institutional investors,” they say.